Church Music

I can skip all the way to the discipleship section of Gather 3rd ed. for this traditional African American Spiritual.

This edition has a harmonisation by Dr Wendell P. Whalum, but the sheet music currently available at GIA is arranged by Avis D. Graves.

Hymnary has a list of the many hymnals in which it is featured.

1 Guide my feet while I run this race, yes, my Lord!
Guide my feet while I run this race, yes, my Lord!
Guide my feet while I run this race,
for I don’t want to run this race in vain! (race in vain!)

2 Hold my hand…

3 Stand by me…

4 I’m your child…

This is Dameans songs by Mike Bailhoff, Gary Daigle and Darryl Ducote in Gather 3rd Edition.

It is based on Isaiah 61:1-3 and is in the “Mission/Ministry” section. I note the Dameans’ version has spoken sections, which are not noted in this version. They must have been very popular in US, judging by the number of You Tube covers out there, a selection of which appears below.

Mike Bailoff’s version below changes the lyrics to “He has anointed me”. It is a difficult song to sing without sounding too sure of yourself, so it would be best used in a liturgical situation where an assembly is part of a communal decision that we have indeed been anointed.

At GIA you can buy the MP3, but they don’t even have the usual handbell arrangement for the songs they try to forget about. In this case it is because they no longer distribute their music. So the sheet music can be purchased at OCP. The text is on page two of this handout.

This is a stirring social justice hymn written by Michael Mahler when he was still a young man. It sounds like a Marty Haugen song, which isn’t a bad influence to start with. It is in Gather 3rd. edition. The GIA bio mentions his love of musical theatre and that is where his career very successfully went. There are more of his songs to come in this collection before he ventured off into other musical areas.

The sheet music can be purchased at GIA and the text is on page 5 of this bulletin.

This is a recessional with a simple text by Mary Louise Bringle, but it does say all that needs to be said.

It is set by Sally Ann Morris. She has written a descant which I put in my backing for a change.

The sheet music is at GIA and the text is in their preview.

My backing is far too laid back, but you can see below that there have been a variety of approaches to this one.

That won’t do, luckily with BIAB it only takes a moment to change things… here’s another attempt without the descant and more up tempo.

I am learning some things by scouring Gather 3rd ed. for the songs that haven’t come up here before. The Spanish/African/Irish ethnicities are catered for and Michael Mahler is a new one for me. It also appears a lot of Lori True’s work has not penetrated across the Pacific, although I do like her tune for Shirley Murray’s “A Place at the Table”.

Lori True shares the writing of this text with St Paul (Ephesians 4:1-24), but didn’t need his help for the music. Although acapella SATB sounds good for the refrain, the harmonically challenged amongst us can still use this one. It is a call for unity and mission.

The sheet music can be purchased at GIA and the words are here. She seems to be popular in the US, even amongst non-Catholic types.

I was sick a couple of weeks ago and being unable to work made a lot of backings just for something to do. That may explain things if a few sound like a fever dreams, but all these backings are quick sketches on BIAB to help sing along and learn the song.

This song from Gather 3rd ed. seems to be unavailable from GIA these days – there isn’t even a handbell arrangement left – so if you want it you are probably going to track down one of the hymnals listed at Hymnary, which, thankfully are pretty commonly available.

It has a text from the missionary, Howard S. Olson and a tune by an Ethiopian woman, Almaz Belihu.

It is also available in a collection, Lead Us Lord, which appears to be out of print. Singing from the Lectionary found this sample sheet music.

I have no idea what a 3/8 tune from Ethiopia should sound like – I doubt it should sound so old world. I made a backing anyway.

I am working my way through the songs in Gather 3rd ed. that I haven’t already blogged from other sources. I fear that some have been justly underused, but this one is an interesting setting of a useful text. Ruth Duck has written words that are just right for a celebration of commitment such as confirmation. The setting by Kate Cuddy has memorable modulations in the refrain that help it stand out. This hymn was a pleasant surprise.

I should note that I am using the guitar edition which has extra lines for the singers but can leave you uncertain of where the main melody is at times. Of all the large unwieldy guitar hymn books, however, it has the least awful binding and would be easiest to use on a music stand – a solid one mind you.

The sheet music can be purchased at GIA and you will find the words on page five of this worship aid.

CWB II set this Fred Pratt Green text to WAREHAM, which I blogged here, but Gather 3rd ed. uses O WALY WALY.

Hope Publishing Company provide the lyrics.

I made a new backing for an old tune.

I have blogged a different arrangement of this already (Christopher Walker for OCP), but I’d lay odds John Bell did it first. This is his version of a traditional Cameroon song.

GIA also have a Marty Haugen arrangement that uses this for a Litany of the Saints, and yet another by Rob Glover. The text is here – scroll down.

I don’t think there’ s much between the versions but as my last attempt wasn’t great I had another go.

This is a rousing recessional from Gather 3rd ed. by Chris De Silva. He dedicated it to a priest in Uganda, and his version might be in an African style or even like Peter Gabriel, although it sounded more Indian to me. I’m sure it can be done in a more neutral style. It sounds familiar to me, but I can’t find that I’ve have ever blogged it − perhaps there are superficial similarities to Bolduc’s “Go Out in the World.”

The sheet music is at GIA and the text is here (last page).

BIAB did go vaguely Indian for this one.